


Waking Up in Vegas

by Sassy_assassin



Category: Borderlands, Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Vegas AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-08-27 16:28:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8408680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sassy_assassin/pseuds/Sassy_assassin
Summary: Rhys is in Las Vegas for Janey and Athena's bachelorette party, but wakes up to find himelf in an unfamiliar hotel room. He quickly books it out of there, but later realizes that he accidentally got married to his supposed one-night stand. And that one-night stand just so happens to be the CEO at his new job at Hyperion.





	1. What Happens in Vegas...

**Author's Note:**

> My first multi-chapter fic! Hope you guys enjoy it! Thanks again to my friend Chloe for always encouraging me and helping me out whenever I got writer's block. I pretty much have everything written already, so I should be updating this pretty regularly. This fic is going to switch off between Rhys and Jack's pov, always starting with Rhys and I will indicate where it switches to Jack's.

Rhys woke up slowly, squinting as sunlight bombarded his eyes. His head was pounding, indicating the amount of alcohol he had last night was probably way too much. He slowly sat up, holding his head as he did so, only to be stopped by a weight on his chest. His eyes went wide as he realized he wasn’t alone in the bed. He slowly turned towards the other person who was still asleep next to him. The man had one arm across his face which obscured Rhys’s view of him, while the other was currently laying on Rhys’s chest. Rhys carefully removed the arm across him, looking around the room. This wasn’t his hotel room. In fact, he didn’t recognize this place at all. He got out of bed slowly, trying not to wake the other man, and grabbed his pants off the floor. Pulling them up, he felt his phone vibrate in the pocket. He pulled it out, cursing silently as he saw the number of missed calls and numerous texts from his friends. He scrolled through them, reading them quickly. The first few were from Vaughn, but there were also some from Fiona.

**Vaughn: “** Bro, where are you?”

**Vaughn:** “Seriously, Rhys. Did you hook up with someone somewhere?”

**Vaughn:** “Ok, really worried now bro. Text me to let me know you’re not dead in a ditch somewhere.”

**Fiona:** “I swear to God Rhys, the amount of time we’ve spent searching for your ass, you’d better be dead.”

**Vaughn:** “August said he thought he saw you leaving with some guy. WHERE ARE YOU??”

**Fiona:** “I swear if I have to deal with any cops because your ass went and got MURDERED, I’M GOING TO KILL YOU AGAIN MYSELF!!”

Rhys winced at that, knowing that Fiona was livid and felt bad about making Vaughn worry so much. The texts had been coming in all night, and he looked at the most recent one that had made him pull his phone out in the first place. 

**Vaughn: “** We’re leaving for our flight, where are you Rhys!? Athena’s  _ this _ close to calling the cops and you know how Sasha and Fiona get around them. Please just tell me you got drunk and hooked up with someone last night.”

Rhys could practically hear the desperation and worry in Vaughn’s voice and he quickly texted back, “Sorry bro, on my way.” Rhys was panicking, his friends were going to be so pissed. He could see the six voicemails that his friends had left as well, and knew that he’d probably ruined Athena and Janey’s bachelorette party. He quickly grabbed the jacket he’d had on last night, and rushed out the door only to find himself in the largest suite he’d ever seen.

Rhys wasted no more time ogling the expensive looking room, and quickly opened the door to run out. Once outside the hotel, he realized he was only a few hotels over from the one where he was staying in, and jogged over there. His friends were around the car in the parking lot, packing up for their flight as Vaughn stood there worriedly on his phone. Rhys felt his phone go off just as Vaughn caught sight of him. 

“Bro, oh my god we were so worried! Where have you been!?” Vaughn exclaimed, relief evident in his voice. Rhys started to answer, but was interrupted by Fiona.

“Where’s your shirt?” Fiona said, her eyes wide.

“Wh-what?” Rhys replied, looking down at himself. He must have forgotten it in his desperation to get back to his friends.

“Where. Is. Your. Shirt!?” Fiona yelled, pointing at Rhys’s bare chest.

“Shit. I don’t remember!” Rhys yells frustrated, trying desperately to recall more of the previous night’s events. All he could remember was a deep laugh that seemed to warm his entire body. 

“Ugh!” Fiona grumbled, rolling her eyes. “I knew we wasted all that time looking for him last night! He was just hooking up with someone!” Fiona angrily yelled. Rhys frowned at her, even though he did feel guilty about making his friends worry.

“Just forget about it ok!? We’re going to miss our flight,” he said, attempting to steer the conversation away from last night’s incident. He’d deal with it later. 

“And whose fault is that?” Fiona grumbled, already getting into the rental car. 

The ride to the airport was mostly silent. Rhys had apologized to Athena and Janey, who had taken it in stride. 

“It’s not a real trip to Vegas unless someone goes missing,” Janey had commented with a wink. As Rhys got settled into his seat on the plane, he tried to ignore Vaughn’s worried expression.

“What, bro? You’ve been staring at me for the past ten minutes,” Rhys asked, slightly irritated. 

“I’m just glad you’re ok. Though next time you go off with someone, how about letting someone know,” Vaughn suggested. Rhys rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Sorry bro. I didn’t mean to worry you guys, I must have been really drunk,” Rhys admitted. 

“So, what happened last night?” Vaughn asked. “And spare me the details!” he added. 

“I can’t remember much,” Rhys sighed. “Honestly I ran out of there so fast this morning. All I remember is that it was the nicest suite I’ve ever seen. I don’t even know what the guy looked like,” he admitted. Vaughn pulled a face at that. 

“Seriously bro?” Vaughn asked. Rhys winced.

“I know, I know,” Rhys conceded, holding his hands up in surrender. “Look, let’s just forget about it ok?” he added. Rhys put his hand up to his head, still feeling the headache caused from last night. “Ugh, I can’t believe we have to go into work tomorrow,” he grumbled as Vaughn looked at him with sympathy.

“At least we ended up getting those jobs at Hyperion. The competition for working there is insane, even if the CEO is supposedly kind of a dick,” Vaughn replied. Rhys hummed in agreement. He really was happy to be working there. Hyperion was everything he’d ever dreamed of, being the leading company in tech developments both for weapons manufacture and more everyday use. He sighed, leaning back into the seat and closing his eyes. Hopefully he’d feel better by tomorrow morning. After all, what happened in Vegas was supposed to stay there, right?

***Jack***

 

Jack woke up, feeling the cold side of the bed next to him. He thought he’d brought someone back to the room last night. He sleepily looked around for a clock, finding one on the bedside table, and blinked at the time. It was late afternoon, so whoever had been there had probably left already, which was fine with Jack. Better than fine actually, as he didn’t have to kick them out himself. He yawned, hearing his stomach start to rumble. He was starving. As Jack got up to go towards the kitchen, his phone started ringing, and he spent a few seconds looking for it before locating it underneath the bed.

“Have fun last night?” Meg, his secretary, asked as her face appeared on his phone screen.

“You know it sweetheart. I still got it,” he winked at her while she rolled her eyes.

“Hmmm,” she hummed as Jack narrowed his eyes at her. “Do you know anything about this?” 

A photo appeared on his screen while Jack squinted at it. It looked like Jack’s own account, but he didn’t remember posting anything. The photo showed him drunkenly kissing a much slighter man in front of a priest, standing in what looked like a church. It was hard to see what the man looked like from the terrible angle, but Jack had a vague recollection of it being the person he’d taken back to the hotel room last night. Jack just gaped at the photo, looking at it in disbelief.

“No, no, no. Handsome Jack does not get drunkenly married in Vegas. And I definitely don’t marry strangers,” Jack laughed, shaking his head.

“Well, apparently you did last night,” Meg deadpanned while Jack simply frowned at her. “You get him to sign a prenup?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“Shit,” was Jack’s only reply as his face became stormy. He immediately hung up on her and dialed a new number, becoming angrier with every unanswered ring. “Look, I want you dipshit lawyers in my office when I get back, do you understand!?” he yelled into the phone after someone finally picked up. “I don’t care about your other clients! When I get back to my office, you’d better be there!” he snarled, hanging up the phone.

***

Jack began pacing across his office angrily, throwing things off his desk. The floor was littered with items he’d picked up only to hurl at the wall. The elevator doors dinged, and two scared looking lawyers approached the desk.

“What did I say about being here when I got here?” Jack asked dangerously. The lawyers glanced down at the various broken objects and gulped.

“Sir, we got here as fast as we could,” one of the lawyers spoke. Jack just tsked and pulled out his gun. 

“Not fast enough,” he growled. The two lawyers’ eyes widened, and one of them looked like they were about to piss themselves. Jack rolled his eyes at them, and put the gun back in it’s holster. It wasn’t like he was actually going to shoot anybody. Hiring someone to cover that up would be way too difficult. The first lawyer sighed in relief, while the second seemed to find their voice and asked why they were needed.

“ _ This  _ is why you’re here,” Jack stated, waving his phone with the picture displayed on it. Meg had already taken down the picture from his feed, but the screenshot still remained. “I need a divorce.” 

“Was there a prenup?” the first lawyer asked. Jack waved his hand noncommittally.

“Fuck if I know,” he answered.

“So, no probably. Sir, without a prenup, your spouse legally has rights to half of your assets. They could take half the company. We can fight it, but it’s a risk,” one of the lawyers informed.

“What if I could find him? Make sure he’s not going to try anything stupid like that,” Jack suggested, a dangerous tone in his voice. 

“You don’t know where he is?” the first lawyer asked, immediately realizing that was the wrong thing to say once Jack’s angry gaze fell on him. 

“That might work,” the second lawyer piped up. “Depending on how far it’s spread. Right now it’s just a rumor, so it would be better if it stayed that way.” 

Jack nodded, already striding back towards his desk. He pulled up the marriage license, lips curling up in a sneer at the other name on it. He just had to find the location of the other man, then get him to agree to a mess-free divorce. Jack’s fingers froze on his keyboard as he pulled up the kid’s information. 

“He works here!?” Jack yelled, making the two lawyers jump in surprise. He immediately stood up, sweeping past everyone else in the room towards the elevator. 

Jack was livid the whole way down. When the doors opened, employees practically threw themselves out of his way, sensing his anger. He stalked across the floor, walking up behind the figure of a lean, brown-haired man, who was currently getting yelled at by someone who looked vaguely familiar. Oh, this was going to be good.


	2. Hell of a First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys is in for a suprise, when Handsome Jack himself appears in his department, and Jack fails to follow what he thought would be simple directions from the lawyers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is where Rhys and Jack finally meet...well meet again, and things start to get going.

Rhys was nervous as he showed up to Helios, the headquarters of Hyperion. It was his and Vaughn’s first official day of work, and honestly it was a dream come true. Ever since college, Rhys was dead set on being able to work here someday. Even going through with some experimental surgery to get a leg up on the competition.

“Well, good luck bro,” Rhys said, putting out his hand for a fist bump before Vaughn headed off to accounting. Vaughn bumped his fist into Rhys’s then took off with a wave. Rhys took a deep breath and headed off towards the tech department. 

The day started to fly by as he became engrossed in his work, and Rhys quickly learned that his boss was an asshole. He sighed as Vasquez dumped more work onto his table, relief flooding him as he realized it was almost time for lunch. Rhys threw himself back into the new work, and only took his eyes away from his computer when his phone lit up. He quickly looked around, making sure no one was watching him, and unlocked his phone screen. A message from Vaughn appeared, and he clicked on it. It was a picture with the message, “BRO, TELL ME THIS IS NOT YOU!” The picture was a semi-blurry photo of what appeared to be him kissing another man, in front of what looked like...a priest? Oh no. Rhys began to panic, his breathing becoming faster. He looked at the photo closer, noticing that it had come from some online news article. That was just great, that means that this photo was all over the internet now. And wait, why was it in the news? Who was the other man in the picture, and why did he look so familiar? He looked closer, trying to get a better look at the blurry photo to make out who the other man was.

“What do you think you’re doing?” An angry voice grit out, startling Rhys. He jumped, almost dropping his phone. 

“Uh, no-nothing sir,” Rhys stammered, looking up at his boss. Rhys had only been working for about half a day, but he knew that Vasquez was an absolute ass. The man practically oozed douchebag, but he was Rhys’s immediate boss so there was nothing he could do.

“That’s funny, because it looked like you were on your phone, when you should have been doing work!” Vasquez yelled down at him. Rhys cringed, slumping further into his seat. His eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of the man who was fast approaching behind his boss. 

The office had gone near silent, a few coworkers whispering nervously as Vasquez continued to chew him out. The man hadn’t noticed the figure approaching him yet, until a hand clamped down on his shoulder. Vasquez whipped around, ready to yell at whoever had dared touch him, before his face went pale. Handsome Jack, leader and CEO of Hyperion, was currently standing there. The entire department was looking at the three of them now, and Rhys was trying his best to go unnoticed. He’d heard rumors of the CEO, many of them involving violence and his bad temper. Rhys thought back to the picture that Vaughn had sent him, and glanced back at the CEO who was currently scrutinizing Vasquez. Rhys’s panicked mind began putting the pieces together, as he realized why the man in the picture looked so familiar, and why the CEO was currently standing in front of his desk. He was so dead. Jack was going to kill him, and Fiona was probably going to resurrect him just to kill him again for being so stupid. Maybe it was a joke picture. He looked back at Jack, who seemed to have finally come to some realization.

“Oh my god, wallethead!” Jack laughed, slapping Vasquez on the back so hard the other man stumbled a bit. “I knew I recognized that stupid face from somewhere! Never thought you’d make it up here though,” he mumbled. Vasquez, for his part, seemed equal parts afraid and pleased. 

“S-sir. You remember me?” he asked, smiling at the fact that the CEO seemed to know him. 

“Of course. How could I forget those stupid hair implants of yours!” Jack continued to laugh as Vasquez paled, looking around at the other department employees nervously. Rhys tried and failed to stifle a laugh at the information, which brought Jack’s attention back to him, Jack’s mismatched eyes meeting Rhys’s own. He seemed to be eyeing the younger man, and Rhys fidgeted nervously under his steady gaze.

“I guess I could’ve done worse,” Jack shrugged, leering at him. “Always did like them leggy,” he added. Rhys shrunk down, unsure about where this was heading. Vasquez gave a confused look between Jack and Rhys.

“Uh s-sir-” Vasquez started before Jack cut him off abruptly. 

“I’m sorry, did your pea-brain somehow think I was talking to you?” Jack growled, his demeanor changing instantly as he whirled on Vasquez. Vasquez looked taken aback, face going even paler. “Did you not hear me!?” Jack yelled. “Get out!” Vasquez took one last look at Rhys before practically running out of the small desk area. “Now you!” Jack said, turning back to Rhys. “We’re going to have a little chat in my office, cupcake.” 

Rhys gulped, the odd pet name doing nothing to lessen the threatening tone of the older man’s voice. 

The elevator ride up to Jack’s office was filled with uncomfortable silence. Rhys spent most of it trying to stay as far away from Jack as possible without being obvious. Rhys couldn’t stop fidgeting, wondering what Jack was going to do to him. He saw the other man roll his eyes at him.

“Kid, would you stop that?” Jack commented, looking at Rhys with an unimpressed stare. Rhys straightened up, trying to stay still for the remainder of the ride. As the doors opened up, Jack stepped off the elevator and into his office, while Rhys stood there in awe. The office was huge, and the view behind the desk was like nothing he’d ever seen before. He quickly hurried to catch up with Jack who was walking toward his desk. As Rhys followed after him, he passed two frightened looking people in suits. He watched Jack drop down in his seat, kicking his feet up on the desk. The two suits scurried up to him, as Rhys stood there unsure of where he was supposed to be. “Get up here pumpkin,” Jack drawled, looking for all intents and purposes as if he owned the world. Rhys carefully made his way up, feeling everybody’s eyes on him. 

Rhys froze as Jack reached into his jacket to grab something, but relaxed when the man simply pulled out his phone. The action did not go unnoticed by Jack, as he raised an eyebrow at the younger man. Jack huffed in frustration. “I’m not gonna bite kiddo,” Jack said, looking mildly amused at the other man’s nervousness. “Unless you’re into that,” he added with a grin. Rhys just stood there.

Jack rolled his eyes at the lack of reaction. “God, it’s like someone died in here,” he muttered. “You!” he yelled, snapping Rhys to attention. “This is you, right!?” Jack pointed to the same picture that Vaughn had sent him earlier. 

“Uh, yes?” Rhys answered. “Sir,” he added at the end, unsure of what he should say. Jack glared at him, frustrated. “I’m really sorry, I was drunk and I really don’t remember-” Rhys rambled, causing Jack to sigh. 

“Kiddo, calm down, god! Also call me Jack,” Jack said exasperated. “Look. You’re not going to do anything stupid, right?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at Rhys who simply shook his head. “Good, see!” he turned towards the two other people in the room. “I told you it wouldn’t be a problem. Have those papers on my desk A.S.A.P. or you’re fired,” he grinned at the two suits, who Rhys now realized were lawyers, as they darted out of the room. Rhys watched them go in envy, as Jack turned his attention back to him. 

“I-uh. What’s happening?” Rhys asked unintelligently.

“We’re gettin’ divorced kiddo!” Jack laughed, as Rhys stared at him in shock.

“Wait, what!? That wasn’t a joke picture? We’re married!?” Rhys gaped at the older man. 

“Obviously cupcake,” Jack winked. Rhys just stood there confused. One second Jack seemed angry, the next he seemed to be almost, flirting with him? “Ugh, I’m so hungry,” Jack groaned aloud, looking around his desk for some food. Upon coming up empty he huffed and started to get up.

At the mention of food, Rhys’s stomach growled. He realized that he’d probably missed his lunch at this point. Jack raised an eyebrow down at him. 

“Hungry, kiddo?” Jack smirked down at Rhys. “Wanna grab lunch?” he asked. 

“Sure,” Rhys answered, not wanting to tell the man no. Jack grinned at him, walking towards the door.

“You coming or not cupcake?” Jack yelled back, the older man already halfway to the door. He slowed down as Rhys caught up to him. “Look, this-” Jack waved a hand between the two of them- “is not going to last long. And no one is to know about it, got it?” Jack growled. 

“Of course.” Rhys nodded, quickly agreeing so he didn’t piss the man off. Jack smiled, throwing his arm around Rhys’s shoulders.

“See, if you just do everything I say this is gonna be a piece of cake kiddo, and then you can go back to doing…”. Jack looked as if he was in thought before continuing, “...whatever it was you were doing before,” he finished. 

The two made their way down to the food court in Helios, and Rhys could feel everyone’s eyes on them. Jack seemed at ease, probably used to the attention, but Rhys shifted uncomfortably under their gazes. He followed Jack into one of the nicer restaurants, everyone stopping to look at them. Jack looked over at Rhys, probably able to feel the anxiety rolling off of him, before rolling his eyes.

“Alright, everybody out!” Jack announced, raising his gun into the air and firing it. Rhys ducked down, covering his ears at the shot. 

“Shit, Jack!” Rhys yelled as everyone in the restaurant scrambled to get out. Jack walked over to a now empty table, sitting down as he motioned Rhys to do the same. A server immediately came up to them, taking their drink order. Rhys looked around the restaurant while they were waiting for their drinks, his eyes landing back on Jack. This place was really nice. He’d heard Yvette, a woman from acquisitions that he’d met earlier that day, talk about wanting to eat here just once in her life. 

“Like what you see?” Jack grinned. 

“Yeah, this place is really nice,” Rhys answered. Jack frowned. 

“Wasn’t talking about the restaurant cupcake,” Jack winked, causing Rhys to blush. Rhys’s gaze dropped down to his menu, while Jack dragged his eyes down the other man, eventually bringing them back to his own menu.

After they ordered, Jack getting some extravagant dish that Rhys had never even heard of, the man turned back towards Rhys. 

“So, what exactly  _ do _ you do?” Jack asked, poking at his food with only mild interest, despite how hungry he said he was earlier. The man’s blue and green eyes were on him, waiting for an answer. 

“I’m a programmer. This was my first day, actually,” Rhys answered, rubbing the back of his neck. Jack’s eyes widened slightly before he started laughing.

“Holy shit kid, seriously? Hell of a first day,” Jack laughed. “Seriously though, I have no idea how you put up with wallethead as your boss. I’d probably kill him if he was mine,” he stated. Rhys was unsure about what to say. Sure he hated the guy, but he was his boss. Though Jack was technically like his boss’s boss’s boss. 

“Haha yeah, he’s kind of an asshole,” Rhys agreed, making Jack laugh even harder. Jack’s laugh was deep and rumbling, and Rhys decided that he maybe liked the sound of it a little too much. 

 

***Jack***

 

Jack sat back in his office, sighing as he leaned back in his chair. It’d been almost a week since he’d gotten back from Vegas. He’d already had to listen to those idiot lawyers stammering about how they didn’t have the documents yet, something about making sure that it was impossible for his spouse to make any legal claim to the company or his money. Jack simply rolled his eyes, bored with their explanation. He’d been sitting at his desk for most of the morning now, and he stood up stretching his legs. Ever since the other day he couldn’t stop thinking about that spindly kid. He was definitely not bad looking, and he had some interesting Hyperion tech crammed into that head of his. An ECHO-eye. He hadn’t seen many of those, but Rhys’s blue one contrasted nicely with his regular brown one. And he could think of some fun things to do with the kid’s robotic arm as well. He only hoped that he hadn’t been too drunk when he’d slept with him to overlook that opportunity. Though, how Jack ended up accidentally married to him was beyond him, but he wasn’t going to admit that to anyone. Jack stood up, deciding to go for a walk. 

As the doors of the elevator opened, he realized which floor he was on. He frowned to himself at that, but decided to press on. Jack made his way across the floor, enjoying the way the employees trembled in fear as he passed. His gaze fell on one employee in particular, the lanky brown-haired man typing away at his computer. Or rather, trying to, as another familiar black-haired man stood next to him. 

Jack could see the hard set of Rhys’s mouth from here, clearly not enjoying the company of the other man who seemed unperturbed at Rhys’s frustration. Jack saw Vasquez say something to him, and then watched as the man put a hand on Rhys’s shoulder. Rhys froze at the contact, and anger flared up in Jack at the action. He stalked over to the desk, stopping once in the pairs’ view.

“What the hell are you two doing?” Jack laughed, but the look in his eyes was hard as he stared down at them. Rhys jumped at the deep voice, looking up at Jack in confusion. Vasquez smiled at the CEO, nervous, but always looking for an opportunity to make himself look good in front of his idol.

“Sir, I was just helping Rhys here. You know, I like to do that from time to time. Help, that is. These new employees really look up to me around here.” Vasquez preened, but Jack wasn’t listening. His gaze was still squarely focused on Vasquez’s hand, which remained on Rhys’s shoulder. 

“You know it’s funny pal,” Jack chuckled darkly, “but I would think people who didn’t enjoy being thrown out a window, would keep their hands off my husband,” he finished. The look on Jack’s face caused Vasquez to withdraw his hand as if he’d been burned. 

“H-husband?” Vasquez asked lamely, looking at Rhys, whose mouth was agape in shock. Jack grinned at their expressions, leaning possessively over Rhys. 

“Now if you’ll excuse us. Me and Rhysie are gonna go get lunch.” Jack announced, hauling the younger man out of his seat. The rest of the office was dead quiet as every employee’s eyes were on the pair after hearing Jack’s declaration. Jack would never admit to making a mistake, no he didn’t make mistakes, but he may have miscalculated how loud his voice was when he’d told Vasquez off. He vaguely remembered the lawyers saying something about not confirming the rumors, but shrugged. The lawyers could deal with it. That’s what he paid them for.

***

Jack watched the the younger man with narrowed eyes. He hadn’t bothered with clearing the place they were at this time, and he could feel everybody’s eyes on him. Rhys seemed more resigned than nervous this time, though occasionally he glanced around uncomfortably. Jack returned his gaze to the menu, deciding on what to order. 

“Just give me the number two combo,” he finally decided as he watched the scared cashier hurriedly punch in his order. She started to state the price before the words died on her lips at the look from Jack. He turned back towards Rhys. “What do you want kiddo?” Jack asked, only to receive a look of confusion from him.

“Wha-” Rhys started to say before he stopped himself. “I’ll have the same thing.” The cashier entered the order, and Jack led Rhys toward a table as they waited for their food. He could feel Rhys’s eyes on him and was surprised to see the younger man glaring at him. “Why are we here Jack?” Rhys asked. 

“Because I was hungry,” Jack answered as if it was obvious.

“Why am  _ I _ here?” Rhys clarified. Jack stayed silent at that, not sure what the answer was himself. He had been angry at Vasquez and had, without really thinking, dragged Rhys down to the food court. He eventually settled on, a ‘why not?’, which only got a glare from the younger man. Jack was honestly, a little surprised at the man’s attitude. The other day, he’d practically been a mess. All nervous and anxious like most of the employees, but today he seemed almost angry. “Why did you tell everyone?” Rhys finally asked. 

“Tell everyone what?” Jack said confused as to what Rhys was getting at.

“That we’re married!” Rhys answered, annoyed. Jack frowned, so that was why he was mad. “I thought you said we were supposed to keep it as rumors,” Rhys hissed. “And now, my entire department knows!” 

“What, you embarrassed of me pumpkin?” Jack growled lowly. Rhys seemed to pause at this, looking slightly wary at Jack’s tone, but his glare remained.

“That’s not what I mean! I just-ugh!” Rhys said, throwing his arms up in the air. Jack watched him with mild interest. He was making a scene, but he didn’t seem to care, and Jack was more than willing to let this play out. Eventually Rhys seemed to notice the stares of the other customers, and stopped talking. Their food had come out while Rhys was on his rant, and Jack had appreciated the way the younger man glared at the server for interrupting him. Now he was sitting with his arms crossed, mirroring Jack’s own posture. 

“You done cupcake?” Jack asked, one eyebrow raised. 

“I guess,” Rhys muttered. Jack’s eyes raked over the man, taking in the annoyed set of his eyebrows and the way his mouth turned down. The kid was pouting, and he had to admit this was much preferred to the nervous, scared version of him from a few days ago. Jack frowned at himself for thinking any version of the other man was preferable, standing up suddenly.

“Well, I’m done. Get back to work,” Jack ordered, leaving Rhys looking at him in confusion before glaring at him as he left, but Jack ignored it and started walking back towards the elevator for his office.

Jack walked back into his office, stalking past Meg who was typing away at her desk. She briefly looked up at him when he passed, but didn’t say anything. Jack sunk into his chair, closing his eyes. 

“You’re an idiot.” Meg’s voice floated towards him as he did his best to relax. She had walked into his office, and was now looking at him as she placed something on his desk. “It’s all over the internet,” she added. Jack growled and opened his eyes to look at her. Normally, he would have never allowed her to talk to him like that, but even he knew that he’d messed up. Not that he would admit it.

“What was I supposed to do?” he shot back, while Meg stared at him unimpressed. 

“How about not doing the exact opposite of what the lawyers told you to do,” she replied. “Why’d you do it anyway?” she asked, while Jack frowned at her. He stayed silent as she raised an eyebrow at him.

“Fine, don’t tell me, but don’t expect me to clean up this mess,” she said, walking out of the office. Jack glared at her, but knew that if he fired her, he’d have to find a new secretary, and the process just seemed tedious. Jack sighed, rubbing his hands over his face as he thought of how to fix whatever this was. Meg’s words rang through his head, and for not the first time that day, he wondered exactly why he’d done what he had. Not confirming the rumors had seemed simple, until he had seen that asshole’s hands on Rhys. His jaw tightened at the memory, and he angrily pulled out his phone. He dialed the number for the lawyers, impatiently waiting for them to pick up. He needed to end this now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, wow I just noticed that tomorrow it will have been 2 years since I started writing and posting fics on here, so hope you guys enjoy reading these fics as much as I enjoy writing them!


	3. Confirmed Rumors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack brings Rhys as his date to one of the company dinners, and the night doesn't exactly go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I'm home sick today, figured I would edit and post up the next chapter. I just really like imagining Rhys and Jack going to fancy company dinners/parties so that's what's happening in this chapter. Also, Jack can't keep his mouth shut.

Rhys remained angry the rest of the day and the next, often snapping at whoever came too close to his desk. He felt guilty every time, but he was still angry at Jack from the other day. Not only had Jack announced to his entire department that they were married, but then he’d just up and left him at lunch. On top of that, Jack hadn’t even talked to him since then. Rhys wasn’t sure what to think about that, but was both too angry and stubborn to initiate a conversation to ask what was going on. He was glad when work was over, as all he wanted to do was curl up on his couch and watch mindless TV for the foreseeable future. As Rhys got back to his apartment, his plans were interrupted when he spotted a package at his door. He snatched the note off of it, which simply read ‘put it on cupcake’. Rhys eyed the box suspiciously, deciding to finally call Jack before opening it. He didn’t even want to know how the older man had gotten his address. Rhys grabbed the box, tossing it onto his couch, then dialed his phone.

“Jack,” Rhys said curtly, still kind of angry with the older man. “What is this?” he asked, pointing to the package with his free hand. 

“What is what pumpkin?” Jack answered. The man didn’t sound upset with him, like he’d seemed last time at lunch, but Rhys could hardly tell when Jack’s temper was going to flare up again. 

“The package, Jack,” Rhys replied. 

“Look babe, I’ve seen your suits and honestly you have like the worst fashion taste,” Jack said, a slight teasing tone to his voice. Rhys opened the box, verifying that it was in fact a suit. “Plus, I need you to look good for tonight.” 

“Wait, what?” Rhys asked. 

“Ugh, cupcake, keep up. It’s some fancy dinner for potential investors and board members,” Jack replied, and Rhys could practically see the CEO rolling his eyes from there. 

“I can’t go to that,” Rhys protested, only to be cut off by Jack.

“Of course you can. You’re married to me, kiddo,” he interrupted, as Rhys frowned down at his phone. 

“Ok, well why would you want me there? I’m not going to be married to you for long,” Rhys retaliated, suspicious of why Jack would ask him to go to the dinner.

“Yeah, but you make great eye candy, and I need a plus one,” Jack grinned, his tone light. Rhys didn’t know what to say to this, and stayed silent. “See you at seven,” Jack ended, hanging up the call as Rhys noted that he didn’t exactly have much time to get ready. 

Rhys just stared at his phone, unsure how to react. Jack had just casually asked him to be his date to one of the swankiest dinners the company threw after not talking to him for almost two days. Rhys put the phone down to get a better look at the suit Jack had sent. It was a black suit with small golden buttons, a bit ostentatious for Rhys’s taste, but he began to put it on anyway. The suit was slim-fitting, but otherwise it was fine, and even Rhys had to admit that he looked pretty good in it. A knock on his door drew his attention away from his own reflection, and he went to open it. Jack was standing there in a nice suit of his own, a playful grin on his face. Rhys stared at the man, blushing slightly when his eyes met Jack’s.

“You clean up nice kiddo,” Jack commented, raking his eyes up and down Rhys’s lean figure. “We better get going though, can’t be too late to these things even if they are boring,” Jack said, leading Rhys out to a car. 

Once at the event, Rhys felt incredibly out of place. He could feel the eyes of every board member and investor looking at him, the stranger who had arrived with Handsome Jack. As Rhys tried to avoid people’s curious gazes, he found himself around a table with food, picking at them while Jack was off talking to someone. He glanced up as a woman came over to him. 

“So, how do you know Jack?” she asked, getting straight to the point that he was sure was on everybody’s minds. Rhys straightened up at Jack’s name, unsure of what he should tell her. Jack had said he could come because he was technically still his spouse, but he wasn’t sure if that was common knowledge among the potential investors and board members. News had gotten out about Jack being married after his announcement in Rhys’s department, but it seemed that not many knew who he was exactly married to. It seemed that since Rhys was such a new, and low-level employee, not many people even knew who he was, let alone that he was the rumored Hyperion employee that had married Jack.

“I work for him,” Rhys answered, going with the safer option. It was true no matter what, and he didn’t want Jack to become angry because he’d said the wrong thing. She looked slightly surprised at this.

“Oh. You must know his schedule then. I’d love to meet with him sometime, do you think you could arrange that?” she asked, as Rhys looked at her with confusion. “You said you worked for him. You’re his PA, right?” she continued.

“Well, yes I work for him, but I’m not-” Rhys started to correct her, before she cut him off.

“Good, then is he free at the end of this month?” she asked.

“Babe, what are you doing?” Jack asked, coming up behind Rhys to look at the woman. 

“Handsome Jack, sir. I was just talking to your PA about when you might be free later this month to talk abou-” she explained. 

“He’s not my freaking PA,” Jack interrupted. “Are you telling people you’re my PA, cupcake?” he asked, turning his attention to Rhys. 

“Not really, no,” Rhys answered while Jack gave him a strange look.

“I’m sorry sir, I assume-” the woman tried to continue, but Jack cut her off again. 

“Rhysie here, is my _ husband. _ ” he stated, wrapping his hand around Rhys’s waist possessively. Rhys noticed a few heads turn at the declaration, and could feel his cheeks burn at the attention. Jack’s hand was around his waist, and honestly he couldn’t remember another time when the man had been this close. Well, besides that night in Vegas, but he didn’t exactly remember much of that either. 

The woman looked shocked at this. “ _ This _ is your husband?” she said, clearly before thinking, as her hand flew to her mouth too late. Jack’s entire demeanor changed, his eyes narrowing on the woman before him. She looked scared, but there was a judgemental expression on her face when she looked at Rhys. He frowned at her, about to say something, when suddenly Jack pulled him into a kiss. The action shocked most of the nearby guests into silence and Rhys stood there, stunned, but god did Jack’s mouth feel good on his. He felt himself slowly giving in, leaning into the older man. He closed his eyes, ignoring the rest of the guests around them as he wrapped his arms around Jack’s shoulders. When he opened his eyes again, Jack had pulled away. Rhys could feel the blush on his face as he tried to steady his breathing. Jack grinned down at him, a slightly possessive gleam in his eyes as his gaze swept the still stunned room. Rhys straightened out his jacket, suddenly aware of all the people’s eyes on them. He watched Jack turn back towards the woman from before.

“You have a problem with that?” Jack grit out, responding to her earlier exclamation.

“N-no sir. Not at all,” she answered with wide eyes. Jack gave her a dangerous smile, leaning in closer to her. 

“Didn’t think so” he replied, dropping his hand to the small of Rhys’s back and steering him away. Rhys let him, unsure of what to do or say as the silence in the room broke. Jack had kissed him. In front of everybody. He felt his cheeks start to heat up again at the memory. Rhys felt like he should be more embarrassed at the public act, but honestly he just wished Jack would do it again. And one thing was for sure, if people didn’t know Rhys was married to Jack before, they certainly did now. 

 

***Jack***

 

Jack hated these events. Not that he didn’t enjoy people hanging on his every word and being just generally awed in his presence. No, he hated the way every person there tried to schmooze up to him, thinking that they were all worthy of his time, because they weren’t. He was currently stuck listening to some half-wit go on about some new project Hyperion was working on that he was interested in. Jack honestly could not care less what this man thought. He let his eyes roam around watching the rest of the guests until his eyes lit on one in particular. The kid stood out like a sore thumb, looking supremely uncomfortable as he stood next to one of the food tables. Jack’s mouth set into a hard line as he realized some woman had approached Rhys and was currently talking to him. He ignored the rest of whatever the man he was with was talking about, and stalked over to the other side of the room where Rhys currently was. 

“Babe, what are you doing?” He asked, approaching Rhys while staring down the woman in front of him. She began stuttering out a reply while he narrowed his eyes at her. He didn’t like how she had been talking to him, acting as if she could order Rhys around. One word of what she was saying caught his attention however. “He’s not my freaking PA,” he interrupted, a sneer on his face at the woman’s assumption. Or, had Rhys been telling people that? The younger man looked uncertain at what was happening, but denied telling her that he was Jack’s PA. Jack returned his attention back to the woman, who looked nervous at his angry expression. Why was he so angry anyway? So what if people thought Rhys was his personal assistant. Except he wasn’t. He was better than that, and honestly, better than most of the idiots in this room. “Rhysie here, is my  _ husband _ .” Jack grit out. His eyebrows knit together in anger as she dared to question his statement, and judge Rhys. So what if he hadn’t actually meant to marry the kid, this woman was no better than the non-existent dirt on his shoes. She had no right to look down upon him, and by extension, question Jack’s choices. Before he knew what he was doing, he’d grabbed Rhys and was kissing him. He couldn’t remember the night they’d gotten married very well, but if it was anything like this kiss then he understood why he’d married the kid. Rhys seemed startled at first, but soon gave in, practically melting into Jack. The younger man was eager, he’d give him that. Jack placed his hands on Rhys’s waist, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss and closed his eyes. Rhys’s lips were soft, the kiss almost sweet. Jack slid one of his hands underneath Rhys’s suit jacket, pulling away slowly as they both came up for air. Rhys’s breath was slightly ragged, his expression dazed as he looked up at Jack, those mismatched eyes meeting Jack’s own. Jack knew that everyone’s eyes were on the pair of them, but he didn’t care. Let them watch. Rhys was his, and they would all know it. He turned back towards the woman from before, who was staring at them wide eyed. He knew she got the message behind that kiss. He put his hand on Rhys’s back, steering him away from the gala. He’d been here long enough. 

He walked Rhys outside of the room the gala was being held in, into one of the emptier hallways of the company building. “Let’s get out of here cupcake, I’m bored,” Jack said, already punching the button to call the elevator. Rhys looked mildly stunned at the statement. 

“W-where are we going?” Rhys asked as they got into the elevator. 

“My office dum-dum,” Jack replied, pressing the button for the top floor. Rhys went quiet at that and Jack studied the younger man with interest. Why was he being so strange? The elevator ride was mostly silent, only broken when Rhys spoke up. 

“Jack,” he started, prompting Jack to look at him from where he’d been lost in thought, “what was that?” he asked. Jack looked at him, confusion etched on his face. 

“What was what?” Jack asked. 

“The kiss!” Rhys exclaimed, eliciting a grin out of Jack. 

“You didn’t like it Rhysie?” Jack teased as Rhys turned bright red. God, Rhys got flustered easy.

“That’s not what I-”

“Because you seemed to enjoy it quite a bit,” Jack interrupted as Rhys frowned at him. A sudden determined expression appeared on Rhys’s face.

“Shut up,” Rhys shot back, suddenly quite close to Jack. Jack’s eyes widened slightly as Rhys pressed up against him, crashing their lips together in a bruising kiss. 

The kid had guts, and Jack smiled into the kiss. He was going to enjoy this. “So, my office?” Jack breathed out, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth when Rhys pulled away. 

“Lead the way handsome,” Rhys replied, as Jack grinned back at him. He leaned back in, recapturing Rhys’s mouth in his own as the two stumbled into Jack’s office. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah! So finally Rhys and Jack gettin' some action, though not a lot because I can't write smut sorry. Maybe one day I'll try. Anyway next chapter, Rhys realizes what he's done and has to vent to his friends, who judge him. Hard. So be on the lookout for that. I've got like 3 tests this week and an essay due, but I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible.


	4. The Next Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys has a mild freakout after waking up the next morning after spending the night with Jack, and goes to vent to his friends. And Jack has a surprise for Rhys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're at the halfway point guys! Doing my tests and essay didn't take as long as I thought, so here ya go. Enjoy this chapter which has some fluff before the drama storm that is to come.

Rhys woke up on the couch in Jack’s office with the man nowhere in sight. His clothes were gathered into a small pile onto the floor and Rhys dug his phone out from his pants pocket to look at the time. He groaned when he realized it was almost noon. Rhys looked over at the fridge in a corner of the office, and considered rifling through it for food. The thought of food was tempting, but it felt weird being in the office without Jack. Plus, did Jack even want him here when he came back? Maybe it was just a one time thing, fueled on by boredom from having to deal with all the company executives. 

Rhys pulled on his clothes, and decided to head out. It was his day off and he was getting hungry. Plus, he really needed someone to talk to right now. He picked up the phone, calling Vaughn. “Hey bro, wanna grab a late breakfast? I haven’t eaten yet and I’m starving,” Rhys said when Vaughn finally answered.

“Sure, there’s a great diner just down the street. Give me like fifteen minutes to get ready,” Vaughn replied. Rhys looked down at the time. The office wasn’t too far from the place that Vaughn had suggested, so he figured he’d walk there since he didn’t really want to call for a car. When he arrived, two other people besides Vaughn were sitting at the table and Rhys groaned. It’s not that he didn’t want to see Fiona and Sasha, it was just that he didn’t really want to see them now. He needed to talk about Jack, because honestly he was freaking out just a little, and he knew the two women were bound to judge him. 

“Whoa, you dressed up for us, I’m touched,” Fiona said as Rhys looked down, realizing he was still in his suit from last night. “And what’s with that face, not happy to see us?” Fiona asked, a slight tilt to her mouth indicating she was teasing him. 

“Not really,” Rhys answered truthfully while Fiona and Sasha scowled back at him. 

“Wow,” Sasha replied, while an angry “rude” came from Fiona. 

“Just, don’t judge me ok,” Rhys prefaced, already knowing that they would. The sisters’ eyes lit up at that, and even Vaughn looked at him with interest. 

“Well, spill Rhys,” Fiona prompted after a short pause. Rhys took a quick breath.

“I may have...sleptwithJackagain,” he said all in one rush while the three looked at him, confused until they deciphered what he had said. All three of their eyes widened at the confession.

“Oh my god,” Fiona stated in disbelief, not sure what else to say, while Sasha pulled a face.

“Bro,” Vaughn said, his expression holding barely restrained judgement. 

“I know. I know,” Rhys said holding up his hands defensively. “It was just. The dinner, and he kissed me. And then I kissed him in the elevator. And then we kind of ended up back at his office-” he started before Fiona interrupted him.

“You guys had sex in his office? Gross,” she commented.

“Getting all hot and bothered with the big bad boss on his desk Rhys?” Sasha teased, grinning as Rhys’s face turned bright red. 

“Wait, wait. Jack kissed you at that executive dinner thing?” Vaughn asked, bringing the conversation back to the beginning of Rhys’s story. 

“In front of everyone! And announced we were married. If they didn’t know we were married before, I’m sure they know now!” Rhys exclaimed. Fiona looked at him curiously.

“I thought you two were keeping it under wraps while you guys got divorced,” she said. 

“That was the plan,” Rhys answered, exasperation clear in his voice.

“So, was it good?” Sasha asked, catching Rhys off guard. 

“Was what good?” Rhys replied. 

“The sex,” she shot back, rolling her eyes as if it was obvious. Rhys’s blush returned in full force, while he tried to keep a straight face.

“Yeah,” he mumbled eventually. “It was amazing,” he admitted quietly. Fiona’s eyes widened, a wicked grin splitting her face a second later.

“Oh my god, you like him!” she yelled. Rhys looked around quickly, as if somehow Jack would appear in the diner, before turning back to glare at her. 

“Wait, seriously?” Vaughn asked, looking at Rhys for some sign of denial. Rhys froze, unsure how to answer, while his friends all stared at him for a reply. Did he like Jack? The man was charming and terrifying in equal measure, but while Rhys usually felt nervous around him, he wasn’t really scared of him. Sure, Jack fired people left and right, and made more than the vague threat to an incompetent employee on a bad day, but Rhys admired the older man. He was everything Rhys wanted to be. Smart, good-looking, powerful. Rhys thought about the way Jack smiled at him. The way his voice sounded when he’d called him his husband. And the way he’d looked when Rhys had kissed him in the elevator. Rhys felt a warmth in his chest, before it turned into a sinking feeling at the newfound realization.

“I’m going to take your silence as a yes,” Fiona said triumphantly, but Rhys was still lost in thought. He was falling for a man that was currently divorcing him. He buried his face in his hands, slumping down into his chair. 

“We’re getting divorced. I don’t think he even likes me,” Rhys finally spoke. 

“Well even if he doesn’t, at least you know you must be a decent lay if he decided to have sex with you again,” Sasha added, while Rhys stared at her in mild horror. “What? It’s the truth,” she shrugged. 

“Look, how do you know he isn’t into you?” Vaughn asked, trying to console Rhys, who was looking more and more dejected with every passing second. “I mean, from what you’ve told me it sounds like the man is hitting on you like every five minutes.” 

“Yeah bro, but he flirts with everyone,” Rhys replied. He laid his head down in frustration. He couldn’t believe he was falling for Handsome Jack, possibly the most powerful and dangerous man alive.

 

***Jack***

 

Jack woke up, a stiffness in his neck from sleeping on it weird. He opened his eyes to find himself in his office, which would not be the first time he woke up in his office honestly. He moved to sit up, but found a weight on his chest. He looked down to find Rhys, dead asleep, and half laying on him. Not that the kid had much choice, with them being on the skinny couch. 

Last night’s events flooded back in a rush as Jack watched Rhys’s sleeping form. Rhys looked so peaceful, and Jack scowled as he realized he’d been smiling down at the younger man the entire time. He carefully extracted himself from under the other man, throwing on some of his clothes. 

Damn, the kid was a deep sleeper. Jack checked his phone, frowning as he realized that he had a meeting in about five minutes. The meeting shouldn’t be too long, he’d make sure of that, but maybe it would give him enough time to think over last night’s events.

He left the office, calling the elevator, and punched the button for the floor the meeting was in as soon as the doors opened. It was some meeting with R&D, and he was hoping that he’d at least get to try out one of the new weapons they were going to be displaying. 

He walked into R&D, ignoring the nervous scurry of employees as he entered. “What d’ya got for me today?” he boomed, a grin on his face. The scientist that he had approached looked up at him apprehensively, his eyes going to Jack’s clothes and then back to his face. Jack frowned, then realized what he was wearing. Shit, he was wearing his suit from the dinner still. Not that it mattered, no one would dare bring it up if they wanted to keep their job.

“Well, sir we have a new gun modification if you wanted to try it out,” the scientist offered. Jack looked at the gun, testing it out in his hands. 

“So, what’s the modification do?” Jack asked, aiming the gun at the test dummy in the lab.

“It adds an electric current to the bullet, effectively electrocuting any targets,” the scientist explained as Jack pulled the trigger. He watched as forks of electricity danced over the target dummy and grinned. 

“Nice,” Jack commented, the scientist beaming at the positive feedback. “Have them ready to ship by next week,” he added, handing the gun back. He started back up the elevator, wondering if Rhys was awake. He wondered if Rhys could shoot. Had he ever even shot a gun? 

He opened the doors to his office, feeling just slightly disappointed at the lack of another person being in there. No worries, he’d just head down to Rhys’s floor. 

He frowned as he realized that it was the weekend, and that Rhys probably had the day off. So, that was a no go on bothering the kid at work. Jack pulled his phone out, scrolling down until he found Rhys’s contact info.

**Jack:** “Hey kiddo, you got the day off right?” 

**Rhys:** “Yeah, why?” 

The reply was almost immediate, and Jack grinned. Either Rhys just happened to be on his phone, or somebody was very eager.

**Jack:** “Be at Helios by 3.” 

Jack slipped his phone back into his pocket, purposefully ignoring the multiple texts containing questions from Rhys. He knew that the other man would be there, too afraid of losing his job to disobey. 

 

***

Jack was down in the lobby, waiting for the younger man. Rhys scowled as he caught sight of Jack, which only caused Jack to grin.

“I can’t believe you’re making me work on my day off,” Rhys grumbled. He was wearing different clothes from the other day, clearly having gone home and changed into more casual clothes.

“Who said anything about work?” Jack smirked, reveling in the confusion that appeared on Rhys’s face. 

“Is this about getting divor-” Rhys started before being cut off by Jack. 

“No, but I can’t exactly ruin the surprise Rhysie,” he grinned as Rhys just stood there, a small frown appearing on his face. He didn’t reply, and Jack started walking towards the elevator, indicating for Rhys to follow. Once inside, Jack hit the button for R&D, pleased at scaring one of the scientists when he stepped out of the elevator. 

“H-handsome Jack sir, is there something wrong?” the scientist stammered, unsure why the CEO would make another trip down unless somebody was about to be fired, or worse. Jack’s grin only seemed to scare the scientist more, as he threw his arm around Rhys’s shoulder.

“I want him outfitted with one of the new prototypes.”

“W-wait, what?” Rhys asked. Jack rolled his eyes at the surprised expression on the younger man’s face..

“We’re going to have some fun Rhysie,” Jack grinned. Rhys gave him an unsure look, but followed him as he walked to the shooting range in the back of R&D. He watched as the kid gave a nervous look at the gun that one of the scientists had placed on a table. “You ever shot a gun cupcake?”

“No,” Rhys confessed.

“Well, you’re in luck then kiddo. You’re about to have the best damn teacher this side of the galaxy,” Jack purred, stepping into Rhys’s space. His grin grew bigger as a blush appeared on Rhys’s cheeks. It was always fun to mess with him, because even though they’d already slept together twice, Rhys was so easily flustered.

Jack snatched the gun off the table, holding it out for Rhys to take. He watched as Rhys carefully took the gun, holding it awkwardly before Jack sighed and repositioned his hands. “Don’t worry, safety’s on.” Jack placed Rhys’s arms in front of them, pointing them towards the target. He could feel how stiff Rhys was, though whether that was because Jack was pressed up against him, or the gun in his hand, he didn’t know.

“Jack-” Rhys started before Jack stopped him.

“Take a deep breath, and then pull the trigger, nice and smooth,” Jack instructed, grinning as Rhys did what he told him to. The loud bang, and subsequent crackle of electricity caused Rhys to jump backwards into Jack.

“Easy pumpkin,” Jack chuckled at Rhys’s reaction.

“That was...kind of fun actually,” Rhys laughed, moving away from Jack to turn and look at him. Jack smiled at the elated expression on the younger man’s face. The kid was definitely interesting, and what was more surprising, was that Jack actually found himself enjoying the other man’s company. He felt something warm pool in his chest as Rhys excitedly chattered about how the electricity had looked when it struck the training dummy, and realized that maybe getting accidentally married wasn’t the worst thing to happen to him. Yeah, he’d definitely had worse things happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh Jack and Rhys are finally realizing that maybe, just maybe, they like each other. Though there will be some drama before things finally get settled. Also, thank you to everyone who has commented/gave kudos to this fic so far! It really brightens my day when I get a notification saying that somebody likes my writing.


	5. Just (Don't) Sign Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever since everyone found out about who Handsome Jack was married to, people have been treating Rhys differently, and he's fed up with it. He can't even get a cup of coffee without the barista looking at him anxiously. Plus, he doesn't even know where him and Jack technically stand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need a distraction from the current political events here, so I figured I'd finish up this chapter and post it. Sorry it couldn't be happier, but hopefully it will prove a useful distraction to you guys too if you need it.

Rhys stood angrily in line waiting for his coffee, thinking about the past few days with Jack. The man had seemed actually ok with not only having Rhys around, but with spending time with him as well. It threw Rhys off, because with everything he had heard about the infamous CEO, it just didn’t make sense. Jack had come down to visit Rhys several times, which while Rhys secretly liked, also made him incredibly nervous. All his co-workers eyes were always trained on the two when Jack was there, and it made him uncomfortable. After Jack left, his co-workers barely talked to him, most too scared to even look at him, afraid of some kind of retaliation from Jack. Some of them even outright resented him for his closeness with the CEO. 

Rhys was aware that many of his co-workers now thought that he had only gotten his job because he had slept with Jack, but he worked hard to prove them wrong. He meticulously went over his coding, making sure it was perfect before anyone else saw it. Jack had even praised him one time, which probably didn’t help with the rumors, but Rhys had practically beamed at the compliment. Vasquez though, was the worst of them all. The man had at first left Rhys alone, as most of his co-workers had, but had soon gone on to subtly be more of a dick to him than before. He made sure Rhys got the worst assignments, and that he had a new one as soon as he was finished. Rhys was fairly sure it had to do with Vasquez’s own weird crush on the CEO, but whatever it was it was driving him crazy. 

Rhys sighed, a frown on his face from thinking about Vasquez. The man had been on his case about everything from taking a coffee break to clocking out ten seconds before five. Rhys turned his thoughts back to Jack instead, remembering the executive dinner. 

It had been two days since then. The dinner had been fine, better than fine, if Rhys was being honest. Which he wasn’t, because he was steadfastly trying not to think about that kiss, and the events that happened later that night. Rhys could feel his cheeks start to heat up as he thought of what happened that night. No, that night wasn’t the problem. The problem, was the fact that now everyone knew him as the guy who was married to Handsome Jack, CEO of Hyperion. Ever since word had gotten out about him and Jack being married, people had been treating him strangely. He’d walk into a room and suddenly it would go quiet, people too afraid to make eye contact with him. At first it was kind of nice being left alone, but now it was starting to get on his nerves. 

Nobody knew how to act around him, because nobody was sure how Jack would react if something happened to Rhys. And nobody wanted to find out the hard way. Rhys pressed his mouth into a thin line, pushing his thoughts to the back of his head as he heard his name being called. He walked up to the counter, grabbing his drink.

Rhys looked down at his coffee, sighing as he realized that his order had been messed up. It shouldn’t be a surprise, as the barista looked just about terrified to death when he’d come up to order. 

“Hey, excuse me. I think this isn’t mine,” Rhys admitted. The young girl working the cafe went pale.

“I-I’m so sorry sir! I’ll get the correct order for you, and we’ll refund you of course!” the girl stammered, hurriedly rushing around to grab the correct ingredients. Rhys frowned slightly.

“It’s fine. You don’t have to refund me, it’s not that big a deal,” he said, trying to calm the girl down. He watched her drop something which caused her to apologize even more profusely. 

“I’m so sorry sir,” she apologized. 

Rhys squeezed his eyes shut in annoyance, trying to calm himself down. “It’s fine. And please don’t call me sir,” he added, his smile tight. The young girl managed to look even more terrified.

“Sorry s-” she said, managing to barely catch herself. Rhys rolled his eyes, his frustration starting to become more apparent as the girl wouldn’t stop apologizing. She handed him his drink, hands shaking so badly that some of the coffee spilled on the counter. “Sorry,” she said, trying to wipe up the spilt coffee while avoiding eye contact with Rhys. He couldn’t take it anymore.

“I said it’s fine!” he yelled. 

“Whoa there cupcake, this barista bothering you?” Jack’s voice floated above the cafe’s many blenders and coffeemakers. Rhys whirled on him, this coffee incident being the last straw.

“This is all your fault! If you had just kept your mouth shut, then this wouldn’t be happening!” Rhys yelled, ignoring Jack’s darkening expression. “Nobody will look at me! Or talk to me! They’re all scared of me because of you! I’m not you, Jack! I don’t get off on some power trip when the damn barista can’t even look me in the eye!” Rhys continued to yell. He yelped as Jack grabbed him by the front of his jacket, dragging him out of the cafe and into an abandoned hallway. Jack let go of his clothes, practically throwing Rhys against one of the walls while folding his arms across his chest.

“Oh hoh, kiddo. You don’t get to play the blame game with me,” Jack snarled. Rhys pursed his lips at that.

“There is no blame game Jack! You’re the one who told Vasquez, in front of the rest of the department, that we were married!” Rhys shouted. “And you’re the one who told everyone at the executive dinner that I was your husband!”

“So what!? You are!” Jack yelled back, hands slowly uncrossing to rest uneasily at his side. Rhys noticed the way Jack’s hands curled into fists, but he was too angry to care. 

“Well, not for long!” Rhys seethed. An unidentifiable expression flitted over Jack’s face before being replaced with anger. Jack’s hand reached up, heading for Rhys’s throat, and Rhys froze. He looked down at it, fear replacing his anger. Jack stilled his hand in mid air, a blank expression on his face, then growled, clenching his hand into a fist before dropping it. Rhys watched in confusion, and relief, as the older man turned and walked away. He glared at the man’s retreating figure, throwing his hands up in the air and shouting in frustration. 

 

***Jack***

 

How dare Rhys try and blame this whole mess on him? As if somehow, this was all his fault? Jack had stormed back into his office, blowing past his secretary on the way in. She’d looked like she was going to say something to him, but one look from him had caused her to sit silently as Jack passed by. He stopped just in front of his desk, running a hand through his hair and letting out a yell of frustration. 

He wasn’t sure why he was so worked up about about this whole thing anyway. Why did he care what the kid said or did? He remembered the way Rhys had looked when Jack had brought up his hand, how afraid he had looked, and felt something constrict in his chest. Jack wasn’t going to hurt him, he had just been so angry at Rhys. Now, he just felt empty.

Jack moved around his desk to fall into his chair, sinking into the plush material. His eyes caught on a stack of papers that had been placed on his desk. They’d been there for the past few days, but Jack had been ignoring them. Sitting up slightly, he grabbed the papers and scanned them quickly, his anger returning with a vengeance. He threw the divorce papers down on the desk, not wanting to look at them. Though why it bothered him, he didn’t know. Getting divorced from the kid would solve his current problems, and as far as he was concerned, Rhys didn’t want anything to do with him.

Jack’s jaw clenched tightly, as he looked down at the papers again. He snatched them back off the desk, angrily scrawling his name wherever the small yellow flags indicated. Rhys would be back at his office by now, and Jack decided he’d pay the kid a visit.

Walking into the department caused the usual din of office chatter to die down, the silence grating on him. Usually, Jack enjoyed the awe and slight fear his presence caused in his employees. Kept them in check. Now though, he couldn’t stand it, the silence felt like it was suffocating him.

Jack grabbed the shirt of the nearest employee, who looked up at him with panicked eyes. “Rhys,” he curtly stated, as the employee pointed towards the back of the room. Jack’s eyes searched until he found the man’s swept back brown hair, his eyes narrowing on the figure. Rhys was glaring at somebody, who seemed to be angrily yelling at him. Wallethead. Jack felt anger rise up in his chest, but he ignored it, instead directing it at the poor employee that he was still holding onto. He threw the employee away from him, watching him stumble slightly, but not feeling any of the usual joy that he would have felt at the employee’s flailing. 

“Get back to work!” Jack yelled, raising his voice to direct the entire department, tired of their eyes on him. He saw Rhys raise his head at his voice, looking at the older man apprehensively as Jack started to walk towards him.

“Jack?” Rhys asked as Jack shoved the stack of papers into Rhys’s chest. Rhys made a small ‘oof’ sound as he stumbled, but Jack ignored it. 

“You don’t wanna be married anymore then fine, sign the damn papers so I don’t have to deal with this anymore,” Jack yelled, waving his hands at him angrily. He stepped away abruptly, glaring at Rhys and leaving the stunned younger man standing in the middle of the office.


	6. The Divorce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys doesn't know what to do with the divorce papers that Jack gave him, but he feels like he's been staring at them for far too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter than the rest, but it just felt like a natural stopping point before the next part. This is where stuff really starts to go down, so enjoy!

Rhys stood there in shock, watching as Jack stalked away, the papers he’d shoved at him fluttering to the ground. He wanted to call after Jack, but nothing came out. He looked down at the few papers he had managed to hold onto, his eyes widening as he realized what they were.

Divorce papers.

He shouldn’t be so surprised honestly. The plan from the beginning was to get divorced. In fact, he’d basically said that he wanted as much at the coffee shop, but somehow thinking about it made him feel somewhat sick. He looked up, noticing that the entire department was staring at him, including Vasquez. Rhys bent down, picking up the papers strewn around him, trying to ignore the stares of his co-workers and failing as he felt an embarrassed blush take over his face. Quickly gathering up all the papers, he retreated to the semi-privacy of his desk where he could hide somewhat from his co-workers’ curious stares. He stared down at the papers, not sure what to do with them. He knew he should sign them, but…

By lunch, Rhys still hadn’t done anything with the papers. He’d moved them to a corner of his desk, occasionally glancing over at them, but trying to ignore them for the most part. Rhys didn’t even bother going to lunch, instead clocking out early, just wanting to go home and not deal with his co-workers’ whispers and stares anymore. He received a text from Vaughn later, who he’d forgotten he was supposed to have lunch with, which just read “Bro you ok?”, meaning that he must have heard about what happened. Not that most of his co-workers probably fully knew what happened, but that didn’t stop them from spreading rumors. Rhys texted back that he was fine, even if it was a lie, it wasn’t like Vaughn could do much to help.

Rhys turned on the TV, trying to distract himself from the day’s earlier events, dropping onto the couch with a bottle of wine. He could just hear his friends’ disapproval about him drinking alone, but he’d had a rough day and he deserved to just kick back and relax. Not that he could really relax, but at least the wine would help somewhat.

He’d brought the divorce papers back to his apartment with him, but they were currently just sitting on his living room table. He looked at them, taking a long drink of wine as he remembered Jack’s furious expression as he’d shoved them at Rhys. The CEO had looked murderous. 

Rhys frowned at the memory, taking a swig of the wine straight from the bottle, which was almost empty at this point. You know what, screw Jack. If the man was going to be an asshole then so be it, but Rhys wasn’t going to deal with him anymore. He grabbed the divorce papers, clumsily signing his name in all the places that were flagged, and then threw the papers back together. He grabbed a bag and jacket, quickly throwing it on, and stepped into the cool night air. If it was so urgent that they get divorced immediately, then who was Rhys to delay it? 

He walked himself to the metro station, waiting for the train. It was pretty late, and there weren’t many other people around, but most of them stayed away from Rhys. Whether that was because of his slightly drunken movements, or because of the glare on his face, he didn’t know. Once at the stop for Helios, he got off, and scanned his badge to get into the building. There were still some employees there working late, but most had gone home already. Rhys stumbled towards the elevator, swaying slightly as he pressed the button for the CEO’s floor. As the doors opened, he walked past the empty desk where Jack’s secretary usually sat, and straight up to the double doors of the CEO’s office. He briefly wondered if they were locked, and was slightly surprised that they weren’t, when he pushed them open. He saw Jack look up in surprise, which Rhys ignored and stalked towards the desk.

“Here! Since it’s so urgent that you had to burst into my office earlier, I thought oh why wait!” Rhys slammed the papers down onto the desk, eliciting a glare from Jack as the man narrowed his eyes at him. “And thanks for that by the way, I’m sure everyone here will be talking about me behind my back for the next few weeks!” Rhys yelled. He saw Jack’s jaw clench, but he was too angry to hold back. “At least after this, you won’t have to see me anymore, but I’ll still have to deal with your stupid face plastered on every poster in Helios!” Rhys raised his voice, getting louder as he went on while pointing accusingly at the CEO.

“Get out,” Jack said his voice low. The dangerous tone in it caused Rhys to falter, stopping as he caught Jack’s expression. It was dark and angry. Rhys swallowed nervously, now suddenly realizing what he was doing. Jack was a dangerous and powerful man, and Rhys had practically just exploded at him. “I said get out!”

Rhys flinched at the man’s exclamation, and took a step back. He looked up slightly at Jack, but the older man said nothing, just glared at him. Rhys frowned. “Fine!” He yelled, storming out of the room.

 

***Jack***

 

Jack watched Rhys go, glaring at the younger man, then down at the papers that Rhys had thrown on his desk. He picked them up, and could see the younger man’s signature scrawled across the pages. For some reason the signature didn’t bring him the peace that he thought it would and he frowned down at the papers, throwing them back down on his desk in anger. He had half a mind to go after the kid for the way he’d talked to him, but instead he violently swept everything off of his desk, watching as the computer monitor shattered. He sunk into his chair, rubbing his face over his mask in frustration and opened one of the drawers in his desk, pulling out a bottle of whiskey. A rather expensive bottle, that he proceeded to generously pour into a glass.  

He didn’t even know why he felt like this. He could finally get divorced. Fix what had happened in Vegas. Everything could go back to normal. But instead he felt as if someone had suddenly pulled the ground out from underneath him, and he hated it. He hated the feeling of helplessness, of not knowing what to do to stop feeling this way. Jack’s jaw tightened as he tried to push the feelings away, pressing the comm button on his desk to contact his assistant. He knew she'd gone home, but the call would go to her cell, and Jack knew she'd answer it.

“Send up a new computer screen. And a cleaning crew,” Jack ordered. There was silence on the other line  for a bit, even though he knew that his assistant had picked up the call, before she finally answered.

“Yes, sir.” Her response was short, and carefully neutral. 

Jack finished off the rest of the bottle of whiskey, throwing it against the wall for good measure. He watched the empty bottle shatter, and glared at it as the pieces fell to the floor. Fuck this, he’d be better off without that kid anyway. Handsome Jack didn’t need some scrawny ass programmer. And he sure as hell didn’t need Rhys.


	7. Late Night at the OFfice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys hasn't seen Jack since he stormed out of his office after throwing the divorce papers on his desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we're almost at the end of this fic, only one more chapter left after this one, so enjoy!

Rhys sat at his desk, staring at the same computer screen that he’d been staring at since that morning. He’d gotten almost nothing done that day and he just wanted to go home and sleep. Something he’d been doing a lot of lately. 

It had been almost a month since he’d signed the divorce papers, and he just wanted life to go back to how it was. Except that he’d technically been married to Jack the entire time that he’d worked at Hyperion, so he wasn’t quite sure what his life was supposed to be like at the company without him. He hadn’t seen Jack, at least in person, since Rhys had stormed out of the CEO’s office. The CEO’s face however, remained a constant presence in the Helios building, and Rhys tried to avoid looking at it whenever he could. Even his friends had begun to worry, and had been trying to take his mind off of everything by taking him out clubbing or to various bars, but Rhys just wasn’t in the mood to be hit on by random strangers. He wanted...well he didn’t really know what he wanted. Jack clearly didn’t want him, and they’d only been together by accident, so he didn’t know why he was feeling so down about it anyway.

He blinked at his screen again, realizing that he’d been nodding off. 

“Rhys! I expect those reports on my desk by noon!” Vasquez yelled, causing Rhys to wince. He sighed, and then looked at the time, noting that it was already ten-thirty. Great, so there went his lunch. 

By the time he’d finally finished the reports that Vasquez wanted it was a quarter past noon, and he unwillingly went into Vasquez’s office to drop them off.

“Are you just stupid or are you purposefully trying to piss me off?” Vasquez asked as Rhys dropped off the reports. He didn’t want to deal with this right now, and he especially didn’t want to deal with Vasquez right now.

“It’s only fifteen minutes after noon, and I got them done as soon as possible.”

“I didn’t ask for excuses Rhys.”

“Yeah, well you didn’t exactly give me a lot of time, Assquez,” Rhys muttered, lowering his voice at the last part. 

Vasquez narrowed his eyes at him. “This better be debugged and on my desk before you leave today.” He dropped a large stack of what looked like reports on various different projects in front of Rhys. Rhys looked at them, his eyes wide. Vasquez couldn’t be serious. These were all projects that had been pushed to the side, combed over by entire teams of debuggers in his department, but they still hadn’t been able to find everything that was wrong with them. And now Rhys was expected to fix them all by himself? By today!?

“T-that’s impossi-”

“My desk!” Vasquez yelled, cutting Rhys off. “And don’t even think about leaving until they’re done!”

Rhys clenched his jaw, leaving Vasquez’s office as quickly as possible and returning to his own desk. He let out a loud yell of frustration, startling some of his co-workers, but he didn’t care. His asshole of a boss had just given him a nearly impossible task that guaranteed that he wouldn’t be able to leave on time if he wanted to keep his job. Why could nothing go his way lately? As if his life wasn’t shitty enough already.

 

***

 

It was almost eight, and Rhys was still at his desk, his eyes tired from pouring over lines of code non-stop for hours. Even with his ECHO-eye it was tedious and difficult work. So far he’d only gotten through about a quarter of the projects, which was still impressive seeing as several other programmers hadn’t been able to get even that far. Rhys was nothing but determined, and he powered through the stack, going line by line as he searched for errors. He’d worked too hard to get this job and he wasn’t going to let anything or anyone, including Vasquez and even Handsome Jack himself, get in the way of his career.

Rhys had almost finished the work that Vasquez had given him, yawning as he looked at the time. It was almost midnight, and he was sure that almost no one was left in the building at this point, except for security and the cleaning crew possibly. A couple of his friends, mainly Vaughn, had messaged him to check up on him. They knew he was having a rough time lately, and Rhys could tell that they were worried. He messaged back ‘at work, finishing up something’, which almost immediately had his phone ringing. The caller ID showed it was Vaughn and Rhys answered the call with a greeting.

“What’s up?”

“Bro, what do you mean ‘what’s up?’ it’s like midnight! How are you still at the office?” Vaughn said, his voice concerned.

“Stupid Assquez gave me an assignment and told me that I couldn’t leave until I finished,” Rhys sighed. 

“He can’t do that! That’s gotta be illegal!”

“Yeah, and who am I gonna report it to? Jack?” Rhys replied bitterly, causing Vaughn to go silent. They all knew how sensitive the topic of Jack was, and his friends had purposefully been trying to avoid the subject around Rhys for weeks. “Doesn’t matter, he’ll find a way to fire me, and make it look legal if I don’t finish this. That’s probably what he’s hoping for,” Rhys added. “He knows that Jack and I aren’t together anymore and he’s just been looking for an excuse to get rid of me.” 

“How much more do you have to do, maybe I can help?” Vaughn asked.

“I’m actually almost done. Thank god for my ECHO-eye,” Rhys replied. “I’ll probably be out of here in the next hour or so.”

“We can at least give you a ride back to your place. The trains stopped running and I don’t want you to have to call for a car this late bro.”

“Thanks,” Rhys replied. Vaughn’s use of ‘we’ and the fact that he didn’t own a car, clued Rhys in to the fact that apparently all his friends were already together. The fact that they were all hanging out without even asking if he was free meant that they were probably talking about him. 

The thought that he’d apparently gotten so bad that his friends were having secret meetings to discuss him wasn’t comforting, but he wasn’t going to turn down their offer of a ride. He hung up the call, with Vaughn saying he’d be there in about thirty minutes, and continued to work on his current project with renewed vigor. He didn’t want his friends to have to wait too long once they arrived.

 

***Jack***

 

Jack usually stayed late at the office, but recently he’d been staying even later. There’d even been a couple nights where Meg had woken him up in the morning, placing a cup of hot coffee on his desk as Jack groggily realized that he had fallen asleep at his desk. It had been becoming a bad habit, and he didn’t even want to think about the reason behind it, as he was yet again, staying late looking over and signing various project proposals. He instead lashed out at the papers in front of them, angrily rejecting most of them. Especially that freak Nakayama’s proposal to try and make a robotic AI version of Jack. Not that he was against the idea totally, but he definitely didn’t want to know what Nakayama wanted with a robot version of him.

He looked over at his computer screen, the new one since he’d broken his last one, and took in the security footage that was currently displayed upon it as it sat in its sleep mode. It cycled through the different cameras in Helios, showing him the empty meeting rooms, offices, and parking lot. A car pulling up to the building caught his eye, and he stopped the footage on it so he could watch it. Why would someone be coming to Helios this late? He zoomed in on it, trying to see who it was but could only make out three different figures. Jack watched as they got out of the car and headed toward the building. He was suspicious, but not exactly worried. Hyperion was the leading tech manufacturer, and Helios had state of the art security. Nobody without a pass could get in, and the building was designed to not let anybody in this late anyway.

Jack switched the camera to show the front doors, where the group was currently standing. It was some dude and two chicks, who were waiting by the front. They didn't look as if they were trying to break in, but as he watched he saw someone from the inside open the door for them. It looked like a security guard and Jack immediately stood up, grabbing his gun as he headed towards the front lobby. Nobody messed with his company.

When the elevator door opened, Jack could hear various voices drifting over from the lounge area in the lobby. They weren’t being very quiet, though he figured they thought they didn’t have to be if they had someone on the inside. He rounded the corner, his gun in front of him as he heard the voices get louder, stopping in shock as he saw them.

“Rhys!?” Jack said, seeing the lanky young man among the group of ‘intruders’. He lowered his gun as Rhys looked at him, eyes wide, placing it back into the holster strapped to his thigh. “What are ya’ doing here?” he asked, definitely not standing in the hallway awkwardly. Handsome Jack wasn’t awkward, and he sure as hell wasn’t awkward around some spindly kid. 

Rhys stood there, not saying anything for awhile, though Jack could see the flush on his cheeks from being flustered. God the kid was pale. Was Rhys always that pale?

Jack narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized Rhys. He definitely looked paler than usual, and there were dark shadows under the kid’s eyes. Why was he even here this late? “You look like shit kiddo,” Jack said, the words slipping out of his mouth before he could stop them. Rhys glared at him.

“Thanks,” Rhys bit out sharply and Jack tried not to wince at Rhys’s tone. He hadn’t meant it to sound like an insult. He was actually kind of...concerned? The kid looked seriously tired, not that Jack probably looked any better, and not that he would ever admit that out loud.

“Why are you here so late?” Jack asked. “And who are they?” Jack pointed to the rest of the people standing next to Rhys. 

This was the first and longest time he’d talked to Rhys since the man had stormed out of his office almost a month ago. Though he’d thought about the younger man a fair amount during that time. Despite his best efforts to forget about his accidental husband, Rhys frequently appeared not only in his thoughts, but his dreams. He’d woken up more than once leaning into the younger man’s touch ghosting over his face, only to blink awake and realize he was alone. 

Rhys’s voice brought him back to the present. “I was finishing up a project. My friends came to pick me up.”

Jack raised an eyebrow at Rhys. “Ya’ know how late it is, right?”

“No Jack, I’m completely unaware that I’m at work at midnight,” Rhys said, glaring at the man. Jack frowned at him. He saw Rhys sway slightly, as he attempted to take a step toward him, and he could tell the younger man was fighting to stay awake.

“Go home Rhys. You look like you’re about to fall over.”

“Oh what, do you suddenly care about me now? Or are you just hoping that I’ll go away so you won’t have to see me anymore?” Rhys hissed, as Jack’s eyes widened, slightly taken aback at the venom in Rhys’s voice. And what did Rhys mean? Rhys was the one who had signed the papers. The one who had yelled about wanting to have nothing to do with Jack at the coffee shop.

Jack could see the rest of the group, presumably Rhys’s friends, looking between him and Rhys with interest, but he turned his attention back to Rhys when the younger man started to walk away. Jack watched him, realizing that he didn’t want Rhys to leave. “Rhys,” Jack called after him, but the man didn’t even turn around. “Rhys!” Jack yelled, but Rhys just kept walking. 

Rhys’s friends gave one last look at Jack, whose expression turned into a snarl as he saw them looking at him, before they too followed Rhys out of the building. Jack looked at Rhys’s retreating form, and let out a growl as he turned to walk back up to his office. 


	8. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys's friends are fed up with the tension between him and the Hyperion CEO, and have decided to finally do something about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're at the end here, so hopefully you guys have enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Rhys could feel his friends’ eyes on him the whole car ride back. He sat in the seat, his arms crossed across his chest as he tried to ignore them. He could see his friends share a glance amongst themselves out of the corner of his eye, and knew that they were thinking about what had just happened with Jack. He didn’t want to talk about it, or even think about it though, trying to push Jack from his mind as they dropped him off at his apartment. He thanked his friends, ignoring the worried glances that they threw at him and each other.

Once inside, he quickly pulled off his clothes, changing into more comfortable pajamas and dropping onto the couch. He turned on the TV, not even caring what was on as long as it distracted him from his horrible day. It was already past one in the morning, but he needed a distraction. He could feel his eyes drooping closed as he struggled to pay attention to whatever was playing on the television, and vaguely thought about how he should get to his bed, before his eyes closed completely.

Rhys looked around his apartment, blinking awake as he realized that he’d fallen asleep on his couch. He tried to rub the crick out of his neck and winced at how stiff his shoulder was, yawning as he picked his phone up off the table to glance at the time. “Shit,” he muttered, rubbing his face as he stood up. It was almost time for him to leave for work, and he hadn’t even showered or gotten dressed. He pulled on clothes, deciding he didn’t have time to shower if he didn’t want to be late. And he really didn’t feel like being yelled at by Vasquez after everything that happened yesterday. He looked at himself briefly in the mirror, huffing as he tried to push back his mess of hair. After a few minutes he gave up on it, and headed to work.

 

***

Rhys got to his desk, a few minutes late as he walked toward Vasquez’s office. He’d sent the man the results electronically, but hadn’t been able to deliver the hard copies since the office had been locked last night after Vasquez had left. As he walked over to the office, he frowned, noticing that it was still locked. Was Vasquez not in yet? Despite the man’s other flaws, he was usually pretty punctual, if only to yell at other employees who were late. He walked back to his desk, deciding to get started on his work while he waited for Vasquez to arrive.

He’d been at his desk for over an hour, and he’d yet to see Vasquez walk in. Maybe the other man wasn’t coming in today? He glanced over to where the reports still sat on his desk, unsure what to do with them, but deciding to simply leave them there for now.

After the next few hours had gone by with no sign of his asshole boss, he wasn’t sure whether to feel concerned or relieved, though he was heavily leaning toward the second one. It was nearly lunch at this point, and Rhys unlocked his phone, sending a message to Vaughn. As he waited for his friend’s reply, his thoughts drifted to Jack and how the man had looked when he’d run into him last night. Jack hadn’t looked as if he didn’t want to see Rhys. In fact the man had called after him, but Rhys hadn’t wanted to deal with him at the moment and had kept walking.

“Hey Rhys, you ready for lunch?” Vaughn asked, pulling Rhys out of his thoughts as he approached the desk. “You didn’t get back to me, so I just figured I’d come down here,” Vaughn said, as Rhys looked at his phone, confirming that Vaughn had indeed texted him back.

“Uh, yeah sure. Let me just save this.” Rhys turned his computer off, standing up to follow after Vaughn. “Hey bro, guess who wasn’t in the office today?” Rhys asked, as they started to make their way toward the hub to get food.

“Who?”

“ _ Assquez,”  _ Rhys replied, grinning. “It’s kinda weird though, he’s never missed a day before.” Rhys frowned. Vaughn gave him a strange look, his eyes wide.

“Wait, you didn’t hear? Dude, Jack fired him this morning. Like Handsome Jack is normally pretty scary, but Wendy from sales said he looked like he was gonna kill him. Bro, he even pulled out his gun. ”

“What?” Rhys asked with wide eyes. Why would Jack have fired Vasquez? Sure, the man was incompetent and honestly Rhys wasn’t sure how he’d gotten the job in the first place, but to pull his gun on him? Rhys’s thoughts drifted to the events of last night. It couldn’t have been because of him could it? No, Vasquez must have done something else to seriously piss Jack off somehow.

“Yeah, man it was brutal, but at least you won’t have to deal with him anymore.” Vaughn shrugged, continuing walking. Rhys couldn’t argue with that logic, not exactly broken up about the fact that his now ex-boss would no longer be there to torment him.

Rhys looked around, as he realized that Vaughn had started down an unfamiliar hallway. “Where are we going?” Rhys said, furrowing his eyebrows together in confusion as the unexpected route drew him out of his thoughts. Vaughn shot him a smile, but Rhys frowned, knowing something was off. He immediately became even more suspicious as he saw the rest of his friends gathered in the hall. Especially because half of them didn’t even work there, except for August who was a Hyperion security guard.

Fiona, Sasha, and August were all standing outside of one of the rooms as the two approached them. Rhys looked to Vaughn, about to ask him what in the world was going on, but was cut off by Vaughn’s sudden shout.

“Sorry, bro!”

“For wha-” Rhys said, barely getting the words out as he found himself being shoved into a side room, his eyes widening in surprise at the action. The last thing he saw was a slightly apologetic expression on Vaughn’s face before the shorter man slammed the door shut, Rhys hearing the lock engage.

“This is for your own good Rhys!” Fiona yelled through the door, as Rhys stood in the room, stunned.

“What the hell you guys!? Let me out,” he yelled, banging on the door. “Seriously, this isn’t funny,” he frowned. 

“It kinda is,” Sasha laughed. “Though Fi is right. We didn’t lock you in there just for fun.”

“Well then, why?” Rhys asked, growing increasingly frustrated.

“You’ll see,” Fiona said.

Rhys huffed and turned around, surveying the room he was currently locked in. It looked like he was in one of the security rooms, his friends probably able to get in thanks to August. A metal table and two chairs were the only pieces of furniture in the room, and Rhys stared at the two-way mirror unhappily. He had no idea why his friends had locked him in there, but he wasn’t too thrilled about it.

 

***Jack***

 

Jack hadn’t gone home after Rhys had left, and had in fact, fallen asleep at his desk yet again. His assistant had woken him up by throwing a pile of files on his desk loudly. He’d jumped awake, gun in hand as Meg stared at him, frowning.

“There’s an issue down at security, room 109.”

Jack sighed, “Can’t those idiots do anything by themselves!?” He really wasn’t in the mood to have to deal with any of his employee’s screw-ups today, but he stood up from his desk, re-holstering his gun as he exited his office. Jack heard Meg say ‘he’s on his way’ and figured she was alerting security that Jack was coming down. Didn’t matter, no matter of warning could prepare them for how angry he was at having to be bothered by whatever mess those idiots had gotten themselves into.

He walked down the hallway, glaring at anyone who came even remotely close to him, storming into the security area, but stopped as he found the place empty. Wait, what room had Meg said? Room 109?

Jack looked at the numbers next to the doors, yanking open the door to the room, ready to yell at whoever was the cause of him having to come down here, but his angry expression melted into a confused one at what he saw. Rhys was sitting with his arms crossed, a sullen expression on his face. His eyes widened upon seeing Jack, then looked behind him as his gaze shifted towards the open door.

“Don’t let the door-” Rhys yelled, springing up as Jack heard the door slam shut behind him.

He whirled around, pulling at the door. “What the-?” Jack said upon finding the door locked.

“You two need to talk shit out!” Someone yelled, her voice slightly muffled through the two-way mirror. It sounded like one of the voices from the other night, and something clicked in his mind as he looked at the only other occupant in the room. He still didn’t know why he was here, but it definitely had something to do with Rhys. Jack looked up sharply at the mirrored glass. “No, no, no, no, no.” Jack pulled out his gun. “I am not staying locked up in this shitty room.” 

“Jack, wait!” Rhys yelled, ducking behind the table as he threw his hands up to cover his face, Jack emptying the clip into the door. Jack glared at the still-standing door, holstering his gun as he walked over to the table and chairs. “When I get out of here, you’re gonna regret ever having stepped foot into this building!” He grabbed a chair and started to ram it into the door, attempting to physically break it down.

“Hey!” A voice yelled. “We just got new chairs down here!”

Jack assumed it was one of the security guards, probably the one that he’d seen with the group the other night, and snarled in the direction of the voice, which went quiet. He eventually dropped the chair as the legs bent, and the door seemed practically unscathed. Damn, what were these doors made of? He knew they were meant to keep any potential problems from escaping, but seriously. 

Jack was breathing hard from his assault on the door, and looked around the room for anything else he could use. He was not about to stay locked up in this room with Rhys of all people. He turned to see the younger man, standing up from his crouched position behind the metal table.

“Rhys, what is this?” Jack said, a threatening undertone to his voice. Whatever this was, it had to do with the younger man, and Jack wanted answers.

“My, uh friends locked me in here. By the fact that you’re here, I think it’s some kind of ploy to get us back together…” Rhys trailed off, a blush forming on his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Yeah, well that’s not gonna happen,” Jack snorted. He knew Rhys wanted nothing to do with him, and he wasn’t going to let the kid know that it affected him in any way. Because it didn’t. He saw something like hurt flash across Rhys’s face before it was replaced by anger.

“Yeah, well that’s fine, because I’m glad that we’re divorced! You know why! Because you’re an asshole who made a mistake and can’t own up to it! Instead all you do is make me feel like I’m some problem that needs to be fixed,” Rhys yelled, pointing at Jack.

Jack looked at him, his wide eyes narrowing in anger as he looked at Rhys. “Well guess what cupcake!” Jack yelled back, a furious expression masking any previous shock at Rhys’s outburst. “I never filed the paperwork!” 

“Wait, what?” Rhys said, his previous rage dissipating into surprise. “So, we’re still married?” Rhys said, his voice quiet.

“Yeah,” Jack said, jaw clenching as he waited for Rhys to continue his tirade about wanting to be divorced.

“Oh,” Rhys said. There was an awkward silence in the room as Jack stared at him, expecting more. When Rhys didn’t say anything else, Jack turned his attention back to trying to get out of the room. His eyes landed on the automatic door lock that was currently engaged.

“Do you think you can hack that?” Jack asked, pointing towards the lock. Rhys looked surprised at the subject change, but nonetheless looked over to where Jack was pointing. He watched as Rhys’s ECHO-eye lit up, the light casting a soft blue glow over the young man’s face. Rhys seemed to be doing something as the eye whirred to life.

“Yeah, I think so actually,” Rhys said, sounding surprised, as if he hadn’t thought of it before Jack suggested it. Jack rolled his eyes at him. “It might take a few minutes,” Rhys added, falling silent again as he began to work on hacking the lock. Jack stood a few feet away, watching him, finding the frown on Rhys’s face as he concentrated, somewhat adorable. He quickly looked away as he realized he was smiling. Why did the kid seem to have such an effect on him? He was Handsome Goddamn Jack, and he wasn’t crushing on some nerdy programmer.

Rhys’s hands stilled momentarily and Jack could feel his eyes on him. “Why didn’t you turn in the papers Jack?”

Jack froze, not having a response to that. He had honestly meant to turn in the papers, but every time he looked at them he just...hadn’t. He could see Rhys watching him as the silence grew longer, and watched as Rhys’s eyes widened slightly, before narrowing into a glare.

“You’re an idiot,” Rhys said as Jack suddenly found himself pushed up against the wall, the younger man’s mouth on his own. The shock of what was happening prevented him from moving, and he felt Rhys start to pull away. Jack wrapped one of his hands around the back of Rhys’s head to pull him closer and deepen the kiss. Rhys seemed to melt into him, and he smiled as Rhys pressed himself up against his body, trying to get closer as Jack pulled back.

“I’m the idiot?” Jack chuckled. “Sweetheart, we could have been doing this for weeks if you’d just said something.”

Rhys frowned at him. “It’s not my fault, you’re the one who gave me the papers in the first place-” Rhys started to complain, before Jack cut him off.

“You talk too much.” Jack pulled Rhys back to him, crashing their lips together as Rhys let out a noise of contentment. They pulled back after a moment, breathless.

“So, you’re place?” Rhys said, as Jack gave him a confused look.

“The door’s still locked…” he trailed off as Rhys smirked, his ECHO-eye lighting up again as the light above the lock turned green. “God, I can’t wait to get you out of those clothes,” Jack grinned, turning his attention back to Rhys. “Like, literally.” He grabbed at Rhys’s shirt, pulling him back to him as Rhys put a hand up to stop him.

“Jack, we can’t.” Rhys looked behind him, and Jack followed his gaze to the two-way mirror. 

“How about we give your little friends a show?” Jack whispered back, picking Rhys up and placing him on the table. 

“Jack,” Rhys said, his chastising tone turning into a gasp as Jack pressed his leg between Rhys’s own. He hungrily recaptured Rhys's mouth in his own, smiling at all the noises that came out of the younger man. Rhys leaned forward, trying not to break the contact as Jack pulled back.

“Sorry babe, did you want me to stop?” he grinned, referring to Rhys's earlier objection. The fact that his friends were on the other side of the two-way mirror seemed not to matter to Rhys anymore, as he growled, grabbing a hold of Jack’s jacket to pull him closer.

“Seriously!?” A voice yelled from the other side of the wall as the two went back to making out. Jack simply flipped them off, not even bothering to look up. 

He grabbed a hold of Rhys’s hips, leading him over to the chair and pulling the younger man onto his lap as he sat down on it.

“So Rhysie, how about we christen these new chairs?” Jack looked over at the one broken chair from his earlier escape attempt. “Or chair,” he corrected.

“I’d say why stop there? I think I remember August saying that they got new tables too.”

“I like the way you think cupcake,” Jack chuckled.

  
  


***Meanwhile, behind the Two-Way Mirror***

 

“This might actually work,” Sasha said, watching the two as they attempted to get out of the room. The group was currently huddled into the small room behind the two-way mirror.

“Yeah, maybe,” August snorted. “I swear though if I have to pay for that.” August pointed to the mangled chair, while Sasha and Fiona rolled their eyes at him.

“Just hope this works. Because if it doesn’t, I think you’re going to have bigger problems than replacing a chair, since I don’t know, you locked in the dangerous and powerful CEO of the company you work for?” Fiona said, causing August to frown at her. 

“Wow, oh ok. I didn’t need to see that,” Vaughn said as both Jack and Rhys began to make out rather passionately behind the glass. “Seriously!?” he yelled. The group watched in stunned horror as Jack flipped them off, and the pair’s makeout session became more heated.

“They’re not really gonna…” Sasha said, trailing off as Rhys and Jack showed no signs of stopping.

“I mean. They know we’re here,” Fiona stated. They saw Jack drag Rhys down onto his lap.

“Alright, that’s it. I’m out!” Vaughn yelled as they saw Jack unbuckle his pants. 

“Yeah, me too,” Fiona replied, as Sasha and August agreed. “Well, at least we know it worked,” she added once they were out of the security room.

“Yeah, but I did not need to see that,” Vaughn said.

“Babe, I think you’re gonna have to replace more than just that chair,” Sasha laughed, looking at August, who frowned.

“Not cool Sash. You three better be helping with this,” August said, pointing to them. “Hey, I’m serious!” he yelled as Fiona and Sasha started to walk away.

“Yeah, we’ll see.” Sasha waved, her and Fiona already halfway down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this is the end of my first multi-chapter fic. Thanks to my friend Chloe who helped me come up with the Failure to Launch style ending!  
> Also, if you liked this story, feel free to check out some of my other fics!


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